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Nathan Zakon, 17, arrested in Chalons-sur-Marne, and
his parents, Israel and Gela Zakon, arrested in the raids ordered by von Korff.
Four of the prisoners on convoy 40, none of them [sic] members of the Zakon
family, survived the war. A letter, written by Nathan Zakon and received by the
regional prefect of Chalons-sur-Marne October 12, 1942, was found later in the
archives of the Marne Department.
To the Regional Prefect for
Chalons-sur-Marne
Dear Sir:
I have the honor to respectfully
request that you kindly intercede with the German authorities for the return of
my father and mother, who were arrested on October 9, 1942, for no other reason
than their Jewish faith.
On July 19, 1942, my 18-year-old sister was
taken away, and to this day we have had no news of her, a fact that has already
been brought to your attention: arrest at St. Dizier, departure for
Chalons-sur-Marne, and finally transfer to Drancy, following which we have
received no word from her.
My mother Madame Zakon is 52 years of age
and gravely ill, requiring constant assistance.
My father Israel Zakon
is also ill, having been under the care of Doctor Despres of St. Dizier, who
recently prescribed a month's sick leave.
Despite this situation, they
were both taken away by the French police, most certainly on orders from the
German authorities.
Monsieur le Préfet Régional, I place
all my hope in your humanitarian feeling. I appeal to your spirit of justice
and equality. I address myself to you, in short, as the father that I know you
to be, so that through your considerate, humane assistance my mother, my father
and my sister can be returned to our broken home and my fears for them can be
assuaged.
Yours devotedly,
Nathan Zakon, 17 years old, alone in the
world with no one to turn to.
53, Place de la République
St.
Dizier, Haute Marne Department.
In November 1942, the war
fronts intrude on events in occupied France, providing the first signs –
and hopes – of an eventual German defeat. The sudden change in German
fortunes prompts some who support or acquiesce in Vichy's rule to question
collaboration with the Nazis and even some Vichy officials to seek contact with
the Resistance as insurance for the future. Despite the apparent turn of the
tide, the war against the Jews continues in France and elsewhere in occupied
Europe with intensified ferocity. Mass killings of Jews are accelerated at
Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek, Belzec, and the other extermination
centers.
November 7-8, 1942. American-led Allied armies land in
Algeria and Morocco. Initially they are resisted by French forces commanded by
officers loyal to Marshal Pétain, but this resistance is quickly
overcome and a French administration is set up in Algiers headed by Admiral
Darlan, the former Vichy Premier. With the invasion, a new front is opened at
the rear of the German forces in North Africa, who are threatening the British
in Egypt.
November 11, 1942. Responding to the Allied landings
in North Africa, German military forces occupy all of France except its
southeastern provinces, which are now occupied by Italy. The German action ends
the
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FRENCH
CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST A memorial
Serge Klarsfeld
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